Mothers Charged In Deadly Pittsburgh Fire

The mothers of five children killed in a house fire surrendered to police Thursday to face involuntary manslaughter charges for leaving the youngsters alone while they went to a bar.

Wearing a T-shirt that read "Mommy Loves You," Shakita Mangham, 25, arrived at municipal court early Thursday. Furaha Love, 25, turned herself in at police headquarters a short time later.

Authorities concluded that the children were not left with a baby sitter the night of the June 12 fire, as Mangham had initially told police.

Love was taken from police headquarters in handcuffs to a patrol car and was expected to be arraigned Thursday. Her attorney, Ernest Sharif, said they were ready to fight the charges.

"We're in a very emotional climate right now," Sharif said Thursday. "Five children died. Automatically people want to make the connection it was her fault. But from a legal standpoint, it was not her fault."

Sharif called Love "a loving parent who did something she regrets, but she didn't kill the children."

Love was accompanied by several relatives, including her father, who said his daughter's "state of mind is terrible."

"We're going to try to get her out as soon as we can," Lutual Love said.

Mangham was arraigned and was to be released after posting 10 percent of a $10,000 bond, said her attorney, Jim Ecker.

"It's a very tragic case. She's very distraught," said Ecker, who refused to comment on the facts of the case.

Police charged Love and Mangham on Wednesday with five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of making false reports to police. They are also charged with reckless endangering firefighters who responded to the blaze and endangering the welfare of children.

Killed in the fire were Daekia Holyfield, 7; Cedano Holyfield, 4; Dezekiah Holyfield, 3; Azequel Rankin, 5; and Andre Rankin, 6.

Two 8-year-old boys who were also in the home that night escaped uninjured.

Mangham is the mother of the three Holyfield children and lived in the house. Love was the mother of the Rankin children.

Authorities said the early morning fire was started by children playing with matches.

Sharif has said that Love and Mangham left the children for maybe 15 to 20 minutes and that Love had one beer at the bar.

"It wasn't a party thing," he said.

Officials last week said flames had been shooting from all three floors of the building in the city's East Liberty section when firefighters arrived around 1:20 a.m. The blaze also damaged a vacant building next door.

Sheila Ward, Mangham's mother and the owner of the house, left the home Wednesday with a bag containing some pictures and other items she recovered. She was accompanied by investigators.

Ward said she doesn't believe her daughter should be charged.

"She's a good mother. It's a freak accident," Ward said.